Chinese launch services company CAS Space has signed a cooperation agreement with a giant state-owned travel company in an apparent boost for fledgling space tourism efforts in China.
CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket company, recently signed an agreement with the Hong Kong-based China Tourism Group to jointly explore and advance the market for space tourism.
CAS Space, spun off from the state-owned Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), made the announcement on its official account on Chinese social media app WeChat on July 12.
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The deal doesn't exactly come out the blue. CAS Space announced last year that it is working on a single-stage reusable rocket which would take as many as seven passengers on a 10-minute ride up above the Kármán line at 62 miles (100 kilometers), which is generally recognized as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.
The design presented in CAS Space renders has drawn comparisons with both Blue Origin and its New Shepard suborbital rocket and SpaceX's Dragon capsule.
The first test flight is currently scheduled for 2023, with CAS Space planning on conducting at least 15 test flights before carrying its first tourists. The company's senior officials also think the time is right for space tourism to take off.
"Along with the rapid development of space technology, a space tour for ordinary people is no longer a fantasy but is becoming a reality. A trip to outer space will bring tourists a brand-new experience they've never had before," Yang Yiqiang, a CAS Space founder, told China Daily.
CAS Space is one of a number of commercial Chinese launch companies that have emerged in the last few years. The firm is currently preparing to make its first orbital launch attempt with the ZK-1A solid rocket from Jiuquan.
It also faces competition for would-be space tourists. Another Chinese company, Space Transportation, is developing a "rocket with wings" it says it will use for space tourism and point-to-point travel.
China's first astronaut in space, Yang Liwei, also stated earlier this year that the country's space station would be open to paying visitors later in the decade.
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